Self-playing musical instrument.



No. 773,598. PATENTED Novjl, 1904.

0. A. SHAFFER.

SELF PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILED DEG.9, 1903.

N0 MODEL. 4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

5 a I I/ ,1

WITNESSES: j 10 I 7 INVENTO/I WW3 WNM a P 4! J A Arm/Puma NO. 773,598.'PATENTED NOV. 1, 1904.

I 0. A. SHAFFER. SELILPLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT. APPLICATION FILEDDEG-9, 1903. N0 MODEL.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2 PATENTED NOV. 1, 1904..

No. 778,598. O; A. SHAFFER.

" SELF PLAYING MUSICAL -I NSTRUMENT. ED 13110.9,1903.

APPLICATION FIL 4 QHEETS-SHBET a.

N0 MODEL.

WI T/VESSES W ATTORNEYS Z 0. A; SHAFFER. I SELF PLAYING MUSICALINSTRUMENT.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 9, 1903. No MODEL.

'PATENTBDNOV. 1, 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

A TTOIMEKB' Patented November I 1, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT: Orricn.

CHARLES A. SHAFFER, F PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

' SELF-PLAYING MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 773,598, dated November1, 1904.

Original application na July 21, 1903, Serial No. 166,450.

To all 7072,0772, i1. 71mg concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES A. SHAFFER, a citizen-of the United States,residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State ofPennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Self-PlayingMusical Instruments, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, whichform a part of this specification.

My invention relates to self-playing musical instruments. v

The objects of the invention are to removably support the sheet or rollof music and to ,feed the sheet forwardly and backwardly andautomatically reverseand stop it.

The invention consists in certain holding, feeding, stopping, andreversing devices adapted to .cooperate with the music-sheet and thefingers engaging therewith to feed, stop, and reverse, constructed andarranged as hereinafter described and claimed.

in the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of the instrument. F ig.-2 is asection on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the fingers engaging the under sideof the note-sheet. Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic View showing the electricalconnections. Fig. 6 is an enlarged transverse sectional View of thenote-sheet. Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively top and bottom plan views ofthe note-sheet;

Cb isthe music or note sheet. The same consists of a bod-y of metal,such as copper, hav-v ing an insulated surface 0- on both sides Thisinsulated surface maybe formed by coating the metal with a liquidnon-conducting solution which hardens on setting or cooling. for whichpurpose a tough or brittle gum or varnish may be employed. I have foundthat a solution of commercial French varnish and alcohol is excellentlyadapted to the purpose. The insulated surface may also be formed bytreating the metal body with an acid, causing the surface of the metalto corrode and rendering it non-conducting. The insulated surface mayalso be formed by attaching a sheet of insulating material to the metalbody. The insulating-surface on one roll.

Divided and this application filedDecember 9, 1903. Elerial (No model.)

side is scraped or cut oif, as shown in Figs. 6 and 8, to form thenotes, these cut-away portions 1 corresponding to the perforations of anordinary music-sheet. the insulating-surface is cut away to form one ormore long continuous strips 2 2, a series of short cut-away portions 3'4: 5, a cut-away portion 6 at one end of the strip, and a cut-awayportion 7 at the other end of the strip, all of which are adapted to beengaged by suitable fin gersand to control the stopping and rewindingofthe music-sheet, aswell as the opera:

tion of the keys or strings of the musical in' strument, as will befully described. '10 is theframe of the machine.

or roll, and h the music-sheet receiving or takeup spool or roll.v Theroll g, on which the sheet is wound when off the machine, is

On the other side 9 is the removable music-sheet-holding spool removablyheld-in place by the following means: i is a shaft turning in a bearingonone side of themachine-frame. j is a stud longitudinally slidable in abearing in the oppositeside of the machine-frame and normally pressedinwardly by means of a spring 70. The shaft and stud each has a conicalhead adapted" to engage a conical depression in the end and on the lineof ing-roll g. It will be understood that the roll g may be readily andquickly inserted by seating one end of the roll on the end of shaft iand then moving it into substantially its op-- erative position, thestud j first yielding outwardly' and then springing inwardly into itsseat at the other end of the roll, thus centering the roll, as well assecurely holding it in position. The shaft 2' is driven by mechanism tobe described, and its motion of rotation is imparted to the roll g bymeans of a projection on on the shaft engaging an orifice or slot 01 inthe roll.

The take-n1 roll it is held in place at the other end of hefi siachinein the' same way that the holding-roll g is held in place, 0 representing the driven shaft, p and 1*, respectively, the projection andorifice for imparting the stud, and q 95 the rotation of shaft 0 to theAs the holding-roll need not be remov-' able, I prefer to; provide thestud with a the axis of the hold up roll.

screw-thread and screw the stud through a l and extending upwardly andcontacting with screw-threaded orifice in the frame instead of havingit, like stud j, work loosely in and out. When the holding-roll isplaced in position. the music-sheet thereon is partially unwound by handand the ring a, on the front end thereof, slipped over the book 6 on thetake- T he shaft o'is engaged with its d riving mechanism and the shaft'2 disengaged from its driving mechanism (hereinafter fully described)and the music-sheet wound upon the take-up roll it and unwound from theholding-roll g I will now describe the contact-fingers that engage thecut-away portions of the musicsheet hereinbefore described and thefunctions performed by each set of perforations and the fingerscorresponding thereto.

Pivotally secured to the rear end of the machine is a finger-frame a,carrying the notefingers b, there being one finger to each key or stringof the instrument to be operated. This frame may be uplifted on itspivot when I access to the take-up roll is desired, as when securing theend of the music-sheet thereto. The cut-away portions 1 are of coursearranged like the perforations of an ordinary music-sheet, so that whenany particular note is to be struck a cut-away portion on the sheet isarranged in line with the particular finger controlling the particularkey or string adapted when struckto produce that note. Each finger 6 issecured to the frame a near the latters pivot and extends forwardlythrough an thence extending fornear the extreme free end of thefinger-frame. The fingers bare light and elastic and tend to pressdownwardly against the moving musicsheet, so as to make certain contactwith the cut-away portions.- Beneath'the ends of the fingers b themusic-sheet passes over the smooth curved top of across-piece w, thuspreventing any vertical oscillation of the sheet at the point where itis engaged by the'fingers b.

c are fingers secured to the cross-piece v1; and extending upwardly andcontacting with the long cut-away electrically connected. with a batteryfingers Z) are electrically connected with magnets y, there being onemagnet for each fin- 1s electrically connected When any finger 6 enger.The battery with each magnet. gages one of the cut away portions'i, thebattery-circuit is closed, the current passing from the battery tofingers 0, thence through the metal body of the music-sheet, finger (5,cor- .keys or strings of the instrument.

responding magnet y, and back to the battery. When any magnet isexcited, it attracts its armature, which is connectedwith one of the Theparticular mechanism connecting the magnets and the musical instrumentto be operated is not shown, as it forms no part of my invention. d is afinger secured to the cross-piece w strips 2 2. The fingers c are The.

l l l l y l l l l l the music-sheet and in line of travel of thecut-away portions 3, 4c, and 5. These cutaway portions are provided incase the sheet is cut away to form notes for two or more tunes, and oneof these cut-away portions is placed at the end of the notes of eachtune. in the drawings I have shown a sheet partially broken away, thatis supposed to contain the notes of three tunes. and three cut-away.portions 3, 4, and 5 are therefore provided. The object of thesecut-away portions is to stop the machine at the end of each tune. Tothis end i provide in the circuit of the motor 8 a cut-out switch 9,forming the armature of a magnet 2, one pole of" the magnet beingconnected with the battery a: and the other pole with the finger (Z.When the linger (Z contacts with either of the cut-away portions 3, 4,and 5, the circuit is closed, thecurrent passing fromthc battery :12 tofingers c,'to strip 2, througl' the metal body of the musicsheet tocut-away portion 3, or 5. to linger (Z, to magnet 2, and thence back tothe battery :12, thereby exciting the magnet z and opening the cut-outswitch 9, thereby stopping the motor 8 and the machine. This feature isespecially applicable to slot-machines in which the motor-circuit isautomatically opened at the end of each-tune. The machine is started byagain closing the switch 9 by hand or by any well-known automaticmechanism such as is employed'in'slot-machines. way" are fingers securedto the cross-piece w and extending upwardly and contacting with themusic-sheet and in line. of travel of the cut-away portions 6 and 7,respectively, the

function and operation of which. is hereinand 71/ is as follows: 11 istheshaft of motor 8. i2 and 13 are pulleys on the motor-shaft. 14 is atilting frame pivoted on the motorshaft. is a shaft jo urnaled near oneend of frame 14, said shaft carrying the pulleyQl and gear 22. is ashaftjournaled near the other end of frame 14, said shaft carryi-ngthe pulley31 and gear 32- The pulley 21 is connected through a belt 23 with thepulley 12, and the pulley 31 is connected through a belt 33 with thepulley 18, thereby constantly revolving the gears 22 and 32. and 41 aretwo double magnets, one double magnet being in one circuit and the otherdouble magnet in another circuit,as hereinafter described. Thetiltingframe 14 acts as the armature of these magnets, and dependent upon whichpair of magnets is energized one or the other end .of the tilting frame14 is drawn down and the opposite end drawn up. In the drawings the endof the tilting frame carrying the shaft 30 is drawn down, thus holdingthe gear 32 in engagement with the gear on the shaft 0. When theopposite end of the tilting frame is electrically connected with doublemagnet 40 lowing circuit and fingerf with doublennagnet-4:1. When themusic-sheet is nearly entirely unwound from the holding-roll g and thefingers b have passed over the last ofv the notes on the upper surfaceof the music-sheet, the finger f contacts with the cut-away portion 7,and the folv is established: from the bat-Y .tery to fingers c, cut-awaystrips2 2, through the conducting-body of the music-sheet to cutawayportion 7, finger f, magnet 10, and to the battery, ther'e'by movingdown the end of the tilting frame, carrying the shaft 20, moving gear 32out of engagement with the gear and moving gear 22 into engagement withthe gear 50 on the shaft 13, thereby imparting rotation to theholding-roll g and rewinding the music-sheet thereon. The rewindingcontinues until the music-sheet is nearly entirely unwound from thetake-up roll it, whereupon the finger'e contacts with the gout-awayportion 6, and the following circuit is established: from the battery tofingers 0, cut-away strips 2 2, through the conducting-body of themusicsheet to cut-away portion 6, finger e, to. magnet 41, and to thebattery, thereby moving down the end of. the tilting frame, carrying theshaft 30, moving gear 22 outv of engagement with the gear 50 and movinggear 32 into engagement with the gear 60 on the shaft I 0, thereby againimparting rotation to the take-up roll it. The music-sheet now againfeeds forward a short distance until finger 01 contacts with thecut-away portion 5, thereby causingthe motor-circuit cut-out switch 9 tobe opened andthe machine to stop, as before described.

It will be observed that the sizes of pulleys 12, 13, 21, and 31 andgears 22, 32, 50, and 60 are so proportioned that the rewindingoperation is a comparatively very rapid one. In order to insuremaintaining the tilting frame 14 in either of its two positionsfl haveformed on one end thereof two notches 71 and 73, one or the other ofwhich is adapted to be engaged by the cam-head of'a spring 72, securedto the frame of the machine. As the frame 14 istiltingto place theholding-roll into driven engagement an arm 80,

, division, and

secured to the frame 14, engages the fingerframe a and raises it soasito raise the fingers I) out of engagement with the music-sheet andhold them out of contact with the music-sheet until the latter isrewound. At the same time the finger d is dep'ressed'out of engagementwith the music-sheet by the following means: The end of the finger iscurved to form a hook through which extends a bar 81. 82 is a shaftpivoted in the side members of the frame.

, 1s a lever secured between its ends to the shaft 82 and connected bymeans of. links 84: and 85 with one end of the bar 81 and the arm 80,respectively. 86 is a connection from the shaft 82 to the other end ofthe bar 81. As the arm 80 rises through the mechanism just described theflexible end of finger (Z is drawn down out of contact with themusic-sheet.

1 do not herein lay claim to the music-sheet per nor to the arrangementsof fingers, electric devices, and electric circuits described,

the latter forming the subject -matter of a separate application, SerialNo. 166,450, filed July 21, 1903, of which this application is a theformer forming the subjectmatter of a second divisionalapplicatiomSerial No. 18%,395, tiled December 19, 1903. It willtherefore be understood that so far as concerns the invention claimedherein the con struction of the music-sheet and the particulararrangement of electric devices and circuits may be substantiallychanged without departing from the invention claimed herein.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim, and desire toprotect by Letters Patent, is"' 1. The combination, with a music-sheet,means for feeding the same backwardly, mechanism for reversing thedirection of travel of said sheet, a pivoted frame,

fingers sustained thereon normally in engagement with the sheet, atilting frame comprising a part of the reversing mechanism, and an armconnected with said tilting. frame and adapted, in the operation of thelatter, to raise said finger-frame, thereby raising said fingers out ofengagement with said sheet.

2. The combination, with a holding-roll and a take-up roll, ofamusic-sheet, adapted to be woundfrom one roll to the other, saidmusicsheet containing cut-away portions forming notes and an additionalcut-away portion at each end, fingers adapted to respectively engagesaid cut-away portions, a tilting frame, holding-roll-driving means atone end of the fralmefandtake-up-roll-driving means at the other end ofthe frame, one or the other of said-driving means being in drivingrelation to its respective roll dependent upon the direction in whichthe frame is tilted, magnets in respective proximity to the ends of theframe, an electric circuit including one of said fingers and one of saidmagnets, and an electric circuit including the other finger and magnet.

3. The combination, witha holding-roll and a take-up roll, of amusic-sheet adapted to be wound from one roll to the other, a gearadapted to drive the holding-roll, a gear adapted to drive the take-uproll, a motor and its shaft, a tilting frame pivoted between its ends onthe motor-shaft, two pulleys on the motorshaft, a pulley near each endof the tilting frame, one ofthetilting-frame pulleys being in drivingengagement with one of'the moforwardly and the other direction,

tor-shaft pulleys, and the other tilting-frame pulley being in drivingengagement with the other motonsheft pulley, a gear on the shaft of eachtiit'ing-frame pulley, one of the tilt ing-frame gears engaging thehoidingn'oll gear When the frame is tilted in one direction 211itheether tilting-frame gear engaging; the

teke-np-reii gear when the frame is tilted in and means for tiltiz'lgthe the 4:; The em'nnmntion, With etahe-np roll and sion eeehend 0n. thetime of its axis, twin driven-shafts, ene having a head adapted hdepz'essien at one en 0+ the take t 1 the other a need. adapted 21 13depreesl at the nonmrespond having a seat In the depression at thetake-up r011, sald stud bezng' adjustable in the direction 'of its axis,a springpressed stud mqvable in the I axis and. having a ingly seated inthe depression at the I of thehelc iing-x'oll to bring the driven lgagelnent with the drivingslngft.

In testimony of which invention be e unto set my bend at Philadelpme onday of December. 1903.

@HARLE Witnesses:

F. ELLIS, 1V; IWVHAMILZZON,

, a. tuiv'lng-slmft, and means shafts alternate] direction of its headadapted to be yieldother end 5 y int en- Vt hm this 5th IE FTR.

